Matching Ophthalmology amidst Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): Lessons That Went Viral

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has changed medical education and the residency match process for both medical students and residency programs, with ophthalmology being no exception. Medical students now face cancelled away rotations, virtual interviews, limited interactions with programs, and overall apprehension about changes to the San Francisco Match timeline.

Matching into ophthalmology continues to be exquisitely competitive. Over the last three years, the match rate for applicants has been between 75 and 78%. Data gathered from the preceding 10 years demonstrate that the mean USMLE (United States Medical Licensing Examination) step 1 score of matched students has increased by nearly 10 points to a matched mean of 245 in 2020. Furthermore, to secure a position, students are now applying on average to 77 programs, about a 50% increase in applications per applicant compared with a decade ago.[1] Beyond USMLE scores, letters of recommendation, research, and away rotations have been strongly associated with a successful match.[2] Additionally, the presence of a home ophthalmology residency program is also strongly associated with matching, with data revealing that attending a medical school with a residency program increases an applicant's likelihood of matching by 1.4-fold.[3] Previous research has shown that the majority of applicants match at a residency program within the same geographic region as their medical school.[3] According to these data and many documented experiences,[4] students without home residency programs or ophthalmology departments are at an incredible disadvantage. Currently, only 53% of U.S. medical schools are associated with an ophthalmology residency program and 58% have an ophthalmology department ([Table 1]). Thus, many medical students have limited access to ophthalmologists, research, and networking opportunities. Furthermore, seeking opportunities from departments outside one's medical school often comes with logistical issues, time constraints, and financial burden.

Table 1 Comparison of medical schools with and without ophthalmology departments and/or home ophthalmology residency programs

	No. of medical schools	Percentage of medical schools
Combined AAMC and AACOM list: total number of medical schools (allopathic and osteopathic)[a]	194	100
ACGME list: medical schools with home residency program[b]	103	53
AUPO members list: medical schools with home ophthalmology department[c]	113	58
Combined AAMC and AACOM list: medical schools without any ophthalmology department or residency program	81	42

Abbreviations: AACOM, American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine; AAMC, Association of American Medical Colleges; ACGME, Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education; AUPO, Association of University Professors of Ophthalmology.

^a Per combined AAMC[10] and AACOM[11] medical school roster list for 2019–2020 academic year in 50 U.S. states excluding military programs.

^b Per ACGME 2019–2020 list of ophthalmology residency programs.[12]

^c Per AUPO 2020 member institution list.[13]

Although both applicants and residency programs alike are struggling to navigate this cycle, students without home programs will disproportionately be affected. In an effort to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on match applicants this year, six of us, ranging in training from recently matched MS-4s to PGY-4s, collaborated to host a webinar to guide students during this unprecedented situation. Each panelist came from a school without an ophthalmology department and felt a strong duty to give back to students in the form of mentorship, information, and encouragement.

We will share lessons, experiences, and feedback we have received from our webinar in the hope that it may inform others on the needs of applicants, the power of social media as a tool for mobilization and collaboration, innovative approaches to mentorship, and the unique demands that exist for this cycle.

Lesson 1

Medical education, mentorship, and information can be delivered, with no cost, to tens of thousands through social media content engagement by key influencers. Social media does not follow the same hierarchy as academic medicine. A medical student can often have more influence and reach than a senior attending or program director. We will outline exactly how our webinar went viral.

Lesson 2

COVID-19 has complicated this cycle for both students and programs, but consequences of COVID-19 disproportionately affect students without home departments or programs. The struggles these students face existed before the pandemic, are magnified due to the pandemic, and will likely remain afterward. We will outline how students without home departments or residency programs are perpetually disadvantaged in a way that transcends this pandemic.

Lesson 3

There is a great need and potential in creating a mentorship program for students without home programs and departments to provide mentorship, networking, and research opportunities remotely. Social media provides a premier platform to recruit mentors and reach students. We will outline how we developed an ophthalmology mentorship list and how others are developing an ophthalmology mentorship program.

Publication History

Article published online:
26 October 2020

• References

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